People trying to physically emulate their idols is a fairly modern phenomenon. While it's always been the case that we've replicated our heroes by dressing up as them, performing their hits in the mirror and practising their dance routines when we were younger, some people carry on this trend into adulthood.
Whether it's the twins who want to look like
Brad Pitt, the man who wants to look like a
Ken Doll, or the first Polish Barbie - body transformations are now a common occurrence in the news. However, while the wonders of new technologies in surgery have no doubt helped to propel this bizarre trend, some people achieve the results naturally.
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It is a common theory that somewhere in the world, there is someone that looks exactly like you. For the majority of people, their doppelgänger is just an average Joe. But, for some lucky people, they look exactly like an A-lister. Whether it is
Beyonce,
Jennifer Lawrence or
Lady Gaga, some people a gifted by natural selection, paving the way for online fame and product sponsorship.
However, while the aforementioned are beautiful women in their own right, looking like a celebrity does have its drawbacks.
He may work in a grocery store stocking shelves, but Wesley Byrne is regularly mobbed in the street by hoards of screaming fans. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Wesley, it's not his ability to neatly stack milk, bread, and chips that has drawn the attention of the crowds, it's the fact that he looks exactly like Ed Sheeran.
Wesley, from Manchester, UK, said:
"I've developed a bit of a sense of when it's going to happen – it happens all the time when I'm out and about."
"Being stopped in the street and asked for pictures and autographs has started to happen more and more since he's got bigger, especially if I'm out in Manchester."
"Most people just shout and I wave back at them."
"People ask for pictures with me whenever we go anywhere. A couple of times my girlfriend has glared at the women who shout and want pictures with me, she doesn't handle it very well."
Wesley says that it all began a few years ago, when "a random guy on a night a few years back didn't believe I wasn't him. He spent a good 15 minutes convinced I was him and wasn't having any of it when I said I wasn't.
"He even wanted me to start singing. I said to him 'I don't know who you think I am but I can't do that'. My mates just stood there laughing."
"I Googled him when I got home and it freaked me out a little bit when I saw how similar we looked."
The grocery store worker is now learning guitar and says that he hopes to be able to forge a career as a lookalike in the future. He sees the multi-Grammy award winning artist as an inspiration and hopes to meet him one day.
"My singing voice is terrible but I'm teaching myself how to play the guitar. I've not made much progress but I've managed to pretty much learn Shape Of You."
"I'm going watching him in May at the Etihad Stadium. It would be great to meet him – I just think his story is amazing."
"He came up from nothing because of his raw talent and didn't have to rely on gimmicks. He's inspirational."
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"If I could make a career out of being an Ed Sheeran lookalike I definitely would," he added. "I'm just trying to keep my hair. There's a history of men in our family going bald so I just need to cling onto my ginger locks."
Pretty convincing, right? If Wes can work on that voice and guitar skills, he could easily fool a few people that he is the real deal by busking on the street just like Ed used to. Perhaps someone would snap him up and international fame would follow?
